Apparatus and method of using lighting systems to enhance brand recognition

ABSTRACT

The present solution described herein provides systems and methods to coordinate and control the lighting of areas of a display unit in manner desired based on the type, brand and other characteristics of the product presented for display via the display unit. A lighting control system may control the characteristics of light emanating from one or more light sources to cause a reaction or visual effect from light reactive material of the product or display unit. In some cases, the lighting control system may control the characteristics of light emanating from one or more light sources based on signals from detectors, such as sensing any state or condition of the ambient environment.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/866,286 entitled “Apparatus and Method of Using Lighting Systemsto Enhance Brand Recognition” filed Nov. 17, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application is generally related to lighting systems. Inparticular, the present application is directed to systems and methodsfor improving marketability and enhance brand recognition of a productby controlling the light in the display unit presenting the product.

BACKGROUND

Color is a powerful means of communication and plays an important partin our everyday lives. Color can sway thinking, change actions, andcause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your bloodpressure or suppress your appetite. Corporations have always used coloras a source of brand recognition and advertising. For example, it is awell known fact that in the majority of cases blue light suppressesappetite while red light increases hunger. For this reason, rarely arefood advertisements the color blue or do you see blue light inrestaurants. A University of Loyola, Md. study concluded that colorincreases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. Another independentstudy conducted by the secretariat of the Seoul International Color Expo2004 yielded results which demonstrate the power of color in marketing.According to the survey, 92.6% of respondents said that they put mostimportance on visual factors when purchasing products, and when asked toapproximate the importance of color by percentage when buying products,48% of the respondents said 50-70 percent while 36.7 percent said 70-100percent. This means that as much as 84.7 percent of the totalrespondents think that color accounts for more than half among thevarious factors important for choosing products.

Color does not just merely enhance memory and recollection of a product,but it also can subtly and quickly affect the decision making processes.In fact, CCICOLOR—Institute for Color Research studies concluded thatpeople make a subconscious judgment about a product within 90 seconds ofinitial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is basedon color alone. Further research by the Henley Centre suggests that 73%of purchasing decisions are now made in-store. These studies furtherhighlight the use of color in catching consumers' attention and quicklyconveying brand identity to them to result in more successful sales.

Color influences brand identity in a variety of ways. Consider thesuccess Heinz EZ Squirt Blastin' Green ketchup has had in themarketplace. More than 10 million bottles were sold in the first sevenmonths following its introduction, with Heinz factories working 24 hoursa day, seven days a week to keep up with demand. The result: $23 millionin sales attributable to Heinz green ketchup (the highest sales increasein the brand's history). All because of a simple color change. Applebrought color into a marketplace where color had not been seen before.By introducing the colorful iMacs, Apple was the first to say, “Itdoesn't have to be beige”. The iMacs reinvigorated a brand that hadsuffered $1.8 billion of losses in two years.

Different brands are recognized world wide for their corporate colors.For example, in soft drinks, the first brand associated with red isusually the Coca-Cola Company. Their branding is such a force in today'sbeverage market that red can almost be associated with Cola in generalas several other major brands including Qibla and Tab among privatelylabeled grocery store brands all use red for advertising. In contrast tothe Coca-Cola red is Pepsi who markets their brand in blue. Thecorporate colors of these two brands create distinction and uniquenessbetween their respective products.

SUMMARY

The present solution described herein provides systems and methods tocoordinate and control the lighting of areas of a display unit in amanner desired based on the type, brand and other characteristics of theproduct presented for display via the display unit. A lighting controlsystem may control the characteristics of light emanating from one ormore light sources to cause a reaction or visual effect from lightreactive material of the product or display unit. In some cases, thelighting control system may control the characteristics of lightemanating from one or more light sources based on signals fromdetectors, such as sensing any state or condition of the ambientenvironment.

In one aspect, the present invention is related to a method forimproving marketability of a product by controlling a characteristic oflight emanating from a light source to an area of a display unit forpresenting the product. The method provides a lighting control systemwhich controls a light source emanating light toward an area of adisplay unit for presenting one or more products. The products include alight reactive portion reactive to one or more predeterminedcharacteristics of light emitted by the light source. The lightingcontrol system is configured to implement one or more characteristics oflight emanating from the light source to correspond to the predeterminedcharacteristics of the light reactive portion of the products. Thelighting control system requests the light source to emanate lighthaving the established characteristics onto the light reactive portionsof products which react to the established characteristics of theemanating light.

In one embodiment, a light reactive portion of the one or more productsincludes an interior or an exterior surface of packaging having acoating responsive to a predetermined wavelength characteristic of alight source. For example, the coating may be a photoluminescentmaterial, which is responsive to an ultraviolet (UV) light. Once the UVlight source illuminates the coating, the coating absorbs the light andin response emits a light of its own via fluorescence. The light emittedfrom the coating may be of any color pigment, as determined by themolecular properties of the coating material. In another embodiment, theinterior or the exterior surface of packaging having a coatingresponsive to a predetermined wavelength characteristic of a lightsource is associated with a system which includes a lighting controlsystem configured such that one or more characteristics of the light toemanate from the light source correspond to the predetermined wavelengthcharacteristic of the light reactive material.

In still another embodiment, a light reactive portion of the one or moreproducts comprises a color pigment. In a further embodiment, thelighting control system is configured to implement one or morecharacteristics of the light to be emanated from the light source tochange an appearance of the color pigment of a product to one of adifferent color or one having a different intensity of color. An exampleof this embodiment is a color rendering application in which red applesare stored in a refrigerator inside a supermarket. A lighting controlsystem is configured such that a light source is instructed toilluminate the red apples with a light which makes the red apples appearmore red than under a normal lighting. This attracts consumers'attention and improves marketability of the red apples displayed.

In one embodiment, the light reactive portion of the product includes adye that is not visible in the presence of one or more wavelengths oflight. For example, the product may include photoluminescent materialcomprising a red dye visible only when illuminated by a light sourceemanating light of a sufficient energy, such as an ultraviolet (UV)light source. In still a further embodiment, the light reactive portionof the product includes a dye visible only when illuminated with lighthaving a predetermined wavelength. The lighting control system may beconfigured to emanate from the light source the light of thepredetermined wavelength to activate the dye as visible. For example, anelement of a display system may be designed with a surface that has amaterial with a dye that is not visible until illuminated by a UV light.In response to being illuminated by a UV light, the display elementemits red.

In another embodiment, the light reactive portion of the productincludes a dye that is not visible at one or more wavelengths of light.For example, the product may include a blue emitting organicphotoluminescent material which is blue until illuminated by a bluelight source of sufficient energy. In response to UV light, the organicmaterial emits a green light via the process of photoluminescence. Inthis example, an element of a display system may be designed with asurface that has a material which remains blue until it is illuminatedby a UV light, and then the display element, in response to the absorbedblue light, turns green. The light reactive portion may include any typeof marketing feature such as a logo of a product, a product relatedmessage, a brand name or a company name. In one embodiment, the messagemay be provided in blue lettering, and upon exposure to blue light theletters emit green light. The blue light source may be hidden from aviewer of the marketing feature.

In another embodiment, the light reactive portion may include a messagethat is visible upon receiving light having a predetermined wavelength.The message may be, for example, any type of marketing feature such as alogo of a product, a product related message, a brand name or a companyname. The lighting control system may be configured to emanate the lightfrom the light source having the predetermined wavelength to make themessage visible. In one embodiment, a lighting control unit controls acolor, or an intensity of light emanating from the light source. Inother embodiments, a lighting control system is configured to emanatefrom the light source a wavelength bin of a range of wavelength binscorresponding to the one or more predetermined characteristics of thelight reactive portion. For example, a wavelength bin may be anypredetermined spectral range of the light emanated, such as a range of 5nm, 10 nm, or 100 nm.

In another aspect, the present invention is related to a method forimproving marketability of products by controlling characteristics oflight emanating from the light sources to areas of the display unit forpresenting the products. The method provides a lighting control systemto control one or more light sources to emanate light toward areas of adisplay unit for presenting one or more products. A first light sourceemanates light toward an area of the display unit for presenting a firstproduct. A first detector detects presence of at least one unit of thefirst product in the first area of the display unit. In response to thedetection, the lighting control system establishes one or morecharacteristics of light to emanate from the first light source tocorrespond to one or more predetermined characteristics of lightidentified for the first product. The lighting control system, inresponse to the detection, requests the first light source to emanatelight having the established one or more characteristics.

In one embodiment, the lighting control system controls a second lightsource emanating light into a second area for presenting a secondproduct. In yet another embodiment, one of the first detector or asecond detector detects presence of at least one unit of the secondproduct in the second area of the display unit. In a further embodiment,a lighting control system is configured to emanate one or morecharacteristics of light from the second light source to correspond toone or more predetermined characteristics of light identified for thesecond product, and to request the second light source to emanate lighthaving the established one or more characteristics for the secondproduct. In one embodiment, the first detector or a second detectordetects presence of at least one unit of the second product in thesecond area of the display unit, and in response the lighting controlsystem requests to emanate one or more characteristics of light from thesecond light source to correspond to one or more predeterminedcharacteristics of light identified for the second product. For example,two sensors may be sensing the presence of two products in two givenareas respectfully. Upon detecting a first product in an area, alighting control system commands the light source associated with thefirst area to emanate light having predetermined characteristics for thefirst product. A second detector may also detect presence of products inthe second area. The lighting control system in response to thedetector, commands the light source associated with a second area toemanate light having predetermined characteristics for the secondproduct, and the second product is illuminated. In response to furtherdetections by the first detector or second detector, the lightingcontrol system again changes the characteristics of the light emanatingfrom the light sources to their respective areas.

In another embodiment, the first detector detects a movement of one ormore units of the first product in the first area, and in response, thelighting control system changes one or more characteristics of lightemanating from the first light source. In yet another embodiment, thefirst detector detects absence of one or more units of the first productin the first area, and in response to the detection, the lightingcontrol system establishes one or more characteristics of the lightemanating from the first light source. In still further embodiment, thelighting control system is configured such that each wavelength of lightemanated is emanated from a different light source. In some embodiments,the detector associated with the first area may sense the second productin the first area, and sends a signal to the lighting control system. Inresponse, the lighting control system commands the light source tochange the characteristics of the light emanating the first area to bebased on the second product. In other embodiments, the lighting controlsystem changes configuration of the first source to the configuration ofthe second source, and changes configuration of the second source to theconfiguration of the first source. In this case, for example, as theresult of changes the first light source emits the light havingcharacteristics that second light source used to have, and the secondlight source emits the light having characteristics that the first lightsource used to have.

In another aspect, the present invention is related to a method forimproving marketability of products by controlling characteristics oflight from light sources emanating to areas of the display unit forpresenting the products based on information about ambient environmentof the products. The method provides a lighting control system tocontrol one or more light sources to emanate light toward areas of adisplay unit for presenting one or more products. A first detectordetects information about the ambient environment of the one or moreproducts. A lighting control system establishes a predeterminedcharacteristic of light to emanate from at least one light source of agroup of light sources to correspond to the predeterminedcharacteristics of light based on the detected information about theambient environment. The lighting control system, in response to thedetection, requests the light source to emanate light having theestablished predetermined characteristics.

Details of various other embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in the detailed description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages ofthe present invention will become more apparent and better understood byreferring to the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram that depicts an embodiment of a environmentfor providing control and management of light sources in associationwith products presented for display;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram that depicts an embodiment of packaging of aproduct that includes light reactive material;

FIG. 1C is a block diagram that depicts another embodiment of lightreactive material;

FIG. 1D is a block diagram that depicts an embodiment of a lightingcontrol system;

FIGS. 1E and 1F are block diagrams of an embodiment of a computingdevice useful in an embodiment of a solution provided by the presentapplication;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for controllingcharacteristics of light from a light source in association withproducts presented for display; and

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for controllingcharacteristics of light from a light source in association withdetection of products;

In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical,functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of reading the description of the various embodiments ofthe present invention below, the following descriptions of the sectionsof the specification and their respective contents may be helpful:

-   -   Section A describes a lighting environment for controlling and        managing lights directed to products in a display, and the        process of light emission from the products illuminated;    -   Section B describes embodiment of a computing device useful in        one or more embodiments of the lighting control system; and    -   Section C describes embodiments of methods for practicing the        techniques of controlling and managing lights directed to        products in a display.

A. Lighting Control Environment for Display of Products

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of a system for coordinating andcontrolling lighting of areas of a display unit presenting the productsfor display and marketing. The system includes a display unit 102 havingone or more shelves or areas 105A-105N for presenting one or moreproducts P1-PN which may include individual products 116A-116N. Alighting control system 175 (LCS) may be integrated or used inconjunction with the display unit 102 to coordinate and control one ormore light sources 104A-104N, such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)emanating light 118A-118N towards the areas 105A-105N and/or products116A-116N. The lighting control system 175 may have a control panel orconfiguration tool 110 (CT) for establishing the characteristics of thelight, such as wavelength and frequency, emanating from the lightsources 104A-104N. The LCS may communicate via a network 103 to receiveconfigurations, instructions or other information for use incoordinating and controlling illumination in association with thedisplay unit 102. The display unit 102 may also include one or moredetectors 112A-112N for detecting information about the environmentand/or products P1-PN. The LCS may receive this information from thedetectors 112A-12N and responsive to the information change or adapt thecharacteristics of the light 118A-18N emanating from the light sources104A-104N. The display unit 102 may also include a detector 180 fordetecting environment and other information external to the display unit102 or otherwise in the surrounding environment, such as movement ofpeople near the display unit 102.

The display unit 102, also referred to as a display case 102, mayinclude any type and form of structure of any type of material forstoring, display, presenting or otherwise providing for one or moreproducts 116. In one embodiment, the display unit comprises arefrigeration unit, such as a home or a commercial refrigerator. Inanother embodiment, the display unit comprises a shelf or a series ofshelves for storage and display. In yet another embodiment, the displayunit comprises a counter, or a group of counters such as counters insupermarket aisles. In some other embodiments, the display unit may be acooler. In yet another embodiment, the display unit is a cart or a kioskwhere the products are displayed. In another embodiment, the displayunit may be a portion of a store, or of a mall where products or productrelated materials are placed on a display. In yet another embodiment,the display unit may be an area on a trade show designated for displayof brand products. In yet another embodiment, the display unit may be anarea outside of any enclosed space, such a visible place next to a busyintersection, a street corner, or a square. Display unit 102 maytherefore be any type of environment, enclosed or not enclosed where anyproducts or product related materials may be displayed. As will bediscussed in FIG. 1B, any portion of the display unit may include lightreactive materials.

The display unit 102 may be installed, deployed or otherwise provided inany type and form of environment. In one embodiment, the display unit isdeployed in any kind of retail environment, such as a store, mall, etc.In another embodiment, the display unit may be deployed in retailenvironment, such as a grocery store. In yet another embodiment, thedisplay unit may be deployed in a mall or a trade show. In someembodiments, the display unit may be deployed in a museum. In otherembodiments, the display unit may be deployed in a home. In oneembodiment, the display unit may be deployed in a stadium. In yet someembodiments, the display unit may be deployed in a movie theater. Infurther embodiments, the display unit may be deployed on a busy streetor a city or town square. In yet another embodiment, the display unitmay be deployed in a window of a store or a gallery. In yet oneembodiment, the display unit may be deployed next to a stage on an openspace where a concert is being held.

The display unit 102 may be designed or constructed to have anycombination or arrangement of one or more areas or shelves 105. In oneembodiment, the display unit may be designed or constructed to includevertical or horizontal shelves. In another embodiment, the display unitmay be designed to have shelves of different sizes and shapes. In yetanother embodiment, the display unit may be designed specifically for aparticular product being displayed. In one embodiment, the display unitmay be designed so to include grids. In some embodiments, the displayunit may be designed from different materials, such as wood, plastic,glass, metal, etc. In other embodiments, the display unit may bedesigned with a material different from the display structure. Inanother embodiment, the display unit may be designed to include mirrors.In some other embodiments, the display unit may be designed to includematerials affecting trajectory of light, such as a light diffusingmaterial, prism, etc. In yet another embodiment, the display unit may bedesigned to include materials that react to light. In yet anotherembodiment, the display unit may be designed to include portions of theproduct related displayed material such as plates with logos, objectscomprising logos or company name, product related graphics, or othersimilar product or company related features. In a further embodiment,the areas/shelves 105 may be designed to not include any of the displayrelated features or graphics. As will be discussed in FIG. 1B, anyportion of an area or shelf 105 of the display unit 102 may includelight reactive materials.

The products 116A-116N″, generally referred to as product 116, mayinclude any type and form of product or product related material. Theproducts 116A may include consumer tangible items, consumables,commercial marketing collateral, etc. In one embodiment, the product 116may be a food related product, such as a vegetable, a fruit, or apackage containing meats or precooked foods. In another embodiment, theproduct 116 may be clothes or shoes, such as a specific brand. In yetanother embodiment, the product 116 may be an electronics relatedproduct, such as a TV set, a DVD set, or a surround sound system. In yetanother embodiment, the product 116 may be a video game or a CD or a DVDfor listening, viewing, or computer use. In some embodiments, theproduct 116 may be flowers stored in a flower store. In anotherembodiment, the product 116 may be a piece of furniture or a piece ofart such as a picture. In still another embodiment, the product 116 maybe an electronic gadget such as a cell phone, blackberry, or a musicplaying device. In yet another embodiment, the product 116 may be aproduct related material used for advertisement only. In furtherembodiment, the product 116 may include marketing collateral, salesmaterials, product demonstrators, or marketing gadgets.

The detector 112 may comprise any type and form of hardware, software orcombination of software and hardware for sensing, detecting ormonitoring any type of information, including static or varying stateconditions, such as environmental temperature, humidity, pressure, windspeed, wind direction, ambient light level, motion, speed, proximity,touch, color, metal, fluid flow and acoustic amplitude. The detector 112may detect emission or radiation of any type and form of heat, fumes,chemical, gas, or other materials. In some embodiments, the detector 112includes a light sensor used for detecting any wavelength and/orfrequency of light. In one embodiment, the detector 112 includes asensor for detecting light within the display unit. In anotherembodiment, the detector 112 includes a sensor detecting ambient light.In other embodiments, the detector includes a color sensor for sensing acolor of one or more products 116 and/or the display unit 102, or anyportions thereof. In some embodiments, the detector 112 is a colortemperature sensor for detecting color temperature of a light sourcechromatically by comparing with a predetermined heated black bodyradiation. A color sensor may use any type of color indexing to indicatecolor, such as the index referred to as the Color Rendering Indexmeasured on a 0-100 scale. In another case, the detector 112 mayindicate or identify color temperature on any temperature scale, such asdegrees Kelvin. In some embodiments, the detector 112 detects or sensesthe light characteristics, color, and/or color temperature emanating orproduced by any of the light sources 104A-104N.

In other embodiments, the detector 112 includes a motion sensor fordetecting movement of product within, into or near the display unit. Insome embodiments, the detector 112 senses motions outside the displayunit 102, such as movement of objects or persons. For example, adetector 112 may determine if there are any persons in vicinity of thedisplay unit 102, such as in order to send a signal to turn the systemor a light source on. In one embodiment, the detector 112 includes atemperature sensor for providing a reading of ambient temperature, ortemperature related to the products 116, display unit 102 or theenvironment of the display unit 102. In still further embodiments, thedetector 112 includes any type and form of sound or audio sensor fordetecting audio signals or sound within or near the display unit orotherwise in the environment. In another embodiment, the detector 112includes a radio frequency sensor. The detector 112 may receive and/ortransmit any information obtained via radio frequency identificationtags, referred to as RFID tags. In one embodiment, the detector 112includes any type and form of bar code reader, for example, to read anybarcodes provided via a product 116 or on the display unit 102. In someembodiments, the detector 112 includes a weight sensor for detectingweight of any object, such as a product and/or shelf/area. In otherembodiments, the detector 112 includes a pressure sensor for sensing anylevel of pressure, such as pressure on a shelf of the display unit. Inanother embodiment, the detector 112 includes a touch sensor for sensingany type, form and level of touch.

One or more detectors 180 may be installed, configured or provided todetect a condition outside of the display unit 102. The detector 180 maycomprise any of the types of detectors or sensors described with respectto detectors 112. As such, the detector 180 may sense, detect or monitorany type of information, including static or varying state conditions,such as environmental temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, winddirection, ambient light level, motion, speed, proximity, touch, color,metal, fluid flow and acoustic amplitude. In some embodiments, thedetector 180 is the same as detector 112. In other embodiments, thedetector 180 is different than detector 112.

Any of the types of detectors 112 and/or 180 may include anypredetermined thresholds, sensing levels or operating parameters forwhich to monitor and measure the condition for which the detector isdesigned and constructed. In one embodiment, the detectors 112 and/or180 may include predetermined thresholds for which the detector 112communicates, reports or otherwise provides a detection or informationabout a detection. In some embodiments, the detectors 112 and/or 180 maybe configurable and/or programmable dynamically, statically orotherwise. For example, the lighting control system 175 or configurationtool 110 may communicate with any detector 112 or 180 to establish,provide or otherwise modify any operating parameters, sensing levels ordetection and/or reporting thresholds. In another example, a detectormay be configured or programmed via any type and form of computingdevice in communication via a network to the detector, such as over theInternet, or otherwise attached locally to the detector.

In some embodiments, the detector 180 is attached to or connected to thedisplay unit 102, such as via any external surface of the unit 102. Inother embodiments, the detector 180 is located inside the display unitbut directed or intended to sense conditions external to the displayunit 102. In still further embodiments, the detector 180 is locatedremote to the display unit but in communication with the lightingcontrol system 175 via a network 103, or otherwise via a wired orwireless type of connection or communication channel. The detector 180may be located in the proximity of the display unit. In anotherembodiment, the detector 180 may located outside of the proximity of thedisplay unit, including any length of distance away. For example, adetector 180 located in one building or location may communicateconditions to the lighting control system in another building orlocation.

Any of the detectors 112 and/or 180 may be of the same type of detectoror different type of detectors. Any combination and number of detectorsmay be deployed in the display unit, in proximity to the display unitand/or external or remote to the display unit. In some embodiments, afirst area of the display unit may have a plurality of detectors 112 ofthe same type or different type for providing detected information inassociation with the first area. In other embodiments, a first detector112 or 180 may be used for a first area and a second detector 112 or 180for a second area. In another embodiment, a first detector 112 or 180may be used for a first product P1 and a second detector 112 or 180 fora second product P2. In yet one embodiment, a first detector 112 or 180and second detector 112 or 180 may be used for a single area or product.In some embodiments, a first detector 112 or 180 may be sued for aplurality of areas and/or a plurality of products. In still furtherembodiments, a plurality of detectors 112 and/or 180 may be used for apredetermined area and/or predetermined product.

A light source 104A-104N (LED 104A-104N), also referred to as LED 104and in some embodiments LED 104 may comprise any type and form ofdevice, material or product capable of producing or emanating light. Inone embodiment, the light source may be a semiconductor light emittingdevice. In another embodiment, the light source may be a light bulb or abroadband lamp. In some embodiments, the light source may be a blacklight. In other embodiments, the light source may be a hollow cathodelamp. In another embodiment, the light source may be a neon or argonlamp. In another embodiment, the light source may be a plasma lamp. Inanother embodiment, the light source may be a xenon flash lamp. Inanother embodiment, the light source may be a mercury lamp. In oneembodiment, the light source may be a metal halide lamp. In someembodiments, the light source may be a sulfur lamp. In otherembodiments, the light source may be a laser, or a laser diode. In yetanother embodiment, the light source may be an OLED, PHOLED, QDLED, orany other variation of organic material containing light emittingdevice. In other embodiment, the light source may be a monochromaticlight source. In another embodiment, the light source may be apolychromatic light source. In one embodiment, the light source may be alight source emitting light partially in the spectral range ofultraviolet light. In some embodiments, the light source may be a lightsource emitting light partially in the spectral range of visible light.In other embodiments, the light source may be a light source partiallyemitting light in the spectral range of the infra red light. In oneembodiment, the light source may include a filter to control thespectral range of the light emitted. In another embodiment, the lightsource may include a light guide. In another embodiment, the lightsource may include a mirror. In yet another embodiment, the light sourcemay include a light reactive material affecting the light emitted, suchas a polarizer or a prism. In some embodiments, the light source may bea coherent light source. In other embodiments, the light source may bean incoherent light source.

In some embodiments of an LED as light source 104, the LED is any lightemitting device, comprising one or more light sources and capable ofproviding light to the products presented in an Area, such as Area 105Ain FIG. 1A. In other embodiments, the LED is a semiconductor lightemitting diode producing an incoherent light of any given spectral orpower range. In another embodiment, the light source is a UV emittingsource used for illuminating the portion of the product having anyluminescent or light reactive material, which upon being illuminated bya light source, absorbs the light from the source and in responseproduces its own light, in return. In yet another embodiment, LED 104 isa light source used for color rendering of the fruits, vegetables, meatsor other products in the display 102, where light is emitted by the LEDto slightly alter the color of the product as perceived by the humaneye. In another embodiment, an array of light sources 104 are used tovary the wavelength and intensity of the light emitted. In yet anotherembodiment, the light source 104 is a monochromatic light source or LED,emitting only a single wavelength of light. In yet another embodimentLED may be a tunable light source, emitting a light of varying spectralrange. In one embodiment, the LED may be a broadband light utilizing afilter for narrowing down the light spectral range. The LED may be anycommercially available or custom made light source emitting light of anyspectral or power range, any constant output or varying intensity, andany type of coherent or incoherent light. In another embodiment, the LEDalso has a light guide through which the light is delivered to theproducts.

In some other embodiments, the light source may create all of the basiccolors, including variations there of by only selecting particularwavelengths, a process also known as binning. For example, PhilipsLumileds Lighting Company categorizes blue LEDs as emitting wavelengthsbetween 460 nm and 490 nm (Ref. AB21—Luxeon Product Binning andLabeling). However, they separate this 30 nm difference in wavelengthsinto 6 different “bins” varying by 5 nm each. The light output of theLEDs throughout these different bins vary to the human eye even thoughthey are all characterized as “blue” LEDs. For example, bin 1 which is460-465 nm will appear a very deep blue; however, bin 6 which is 485-490will appear a very bluish green which some people might describe asaqua.

In some embodiments, binning is not used to control color in LEDsystems. Any hue or color may be created by mixing a group of primarycolors, such as, for example, red, green and blue. In addition, even anytwo color LED's, not just the primary colors, may also be used to varyintensities within a region of a CIE color chart, such as red and amberfor example. The ability of the light emitting devices to be controlledto the accuracy of 5 nm wavelength range allows them to create vibrantcolors. In yet other embodiments, the varying an object's appearance ofcolor pigments to human eye as the result of illumination using aspecific spectral range of light is utilized. For example, an object ofa yellow pigment will appear orange to a human eye orange whenilluminated by purple light. In another example, a blue pigment willappear black to human eye when illuminated by orange light. In yetanother example, an object of a red pigment, when illuminated by a redlight will be perceived by human eye as a lot more red.

Commercial refrigeration units are utilized all over the world andbranded on the outside in addition to the product within. The brandingon the outside is utilized to attract customers who are not in viewablerange of the inside of the cooler. The lighting system disclosed hereinutilizes light of a configurable wavelength, i.e., color, to not only toattract customers to the refrigeration unit, but to reveal its contentsinside. The system allows the seller or vendor to select a particularcolor of light for the interior of the case which will be additive tothe branding of the contents on the inside. For example, a sodamanufacturer could coat or label a product with a message that isenhanced under blue light. The enhancement of the message as well as thenew light of the enclosure (as opposed to the usual cool white) willattract customers to the product. However, once the product is removedfrom the enclosure, the message enhanced under the blue light may fade,revealing a new message on the product that was subtractive under theblue light.

In other embodiments, a blue light is used to “activate” fluorescentdyes that are normally not visible in normal light. In this application,the system may be installed with a particular blue wavelength specifiedby the seller of the merchandise inside of the cooler. The seller mayprint their packaging (frozen food, bottles, cans etc.) with a dye whichis activated by the blue light. When the enclosure lighting is poweredon, the seller's message will be displayed vibrantly to the consumer. Inanother embodiment, illumination properties of the lighting system areconfigurable, comprising a red, green, and blue system, and are capableof digitally generating particular colors depending on the merchandisebeing sold. Another embodiment, includes active and passive areas, whichare defined within the display unit depending upon the specific productdisplayed. In this embodiment, an area is defined passive if thewavelength of the light illuminating the product is configuredindependently from the product actually displayed in the enclosure. Anarea is also defined active if a product detected by the system isplaced within, and the LCS in response generates a specific brandenhancing light based upon the detected product. Detector circuits mayinclude a detector module operable in conjunction with the LCS todetermine the presence of a specific product, in response to presence ofthe product detected, issue a series of commands to emit the lighthaving characteristics desirable to the product detected. In a furtherembodiment, a lighting control system may utilize a barcode reader todetermine a product. In response to the barcode reader's determination,the lighting control system makes adjustments to the lightcharacteristics emanated by the light source to accommodate the desiredlight ambiance of the product.

The light sources 104 may be arranged, organized, positioned, located,orientated or placed to emanate light in any suitable or desired mannerand direction towards areas 105 of the display unit 103 and/or products116, or any portions thereof. In some embodiments, a light source isoriented to direct light towards an entire area. In other embodiments, alight source is oriented to direct light towards a portion of an area.In one embodiment, a light source is oriented to direct light towardsmultiple areas. In another embodiment, a light source is oriented todirect light towards a set of one or more products. In some cases, thelight source may be oriented to direct light towards a predeterminedportion of a product, such as the middle, top or bottom portion of aproduct. In other cases, the light source may be oriented to directlight towards the first product in a set of products. In still furtherembodiments, multiple light sources may be oriented to direct lightstowards the same product or area, or portion thereof.

Light emanating from the light source is identified as 118 in the FIG.1A. For example, the light 118A emitted by the LED 104A illuminate theArea 105A in which the products P1, are being displayed. In someembodiments, the light emitted by the LED has a light spectrum which ishigher energy than the visible light, such as UV light, for example. Inother embodiments, the light 118 is any light in the visible rangespectrum. In one embodiment, the light 118 comprises infrared light. Insome embodiments, the light 118 may have a portion of light spectrum inthe UV range and another portion at least partially in the visiblerange. In yet some other embodiments, the light 118 has a spectrum whichis at least partially in the visible range and partially in the infraredrange. Light 118 emitted by the light source 118 may be pulsed orvarying in intensity, or continuous and/or without any interruption inemission. In cases in which light 118 is pulsed, the light 118 may beperiodically or non-periodically pulsed, the pulsing of the light 118may be predictable or random. The spectral range of the light 118emitted may vary from a narrow spectral range such as a monochromaticlight, for example, light from a single mode laser or a single modelaser diode, to a wide band white light such as from a white lightsource covering a spectral range of hundreds of nanometers. In someembodiments, the light 118 emitted from the light source 104 is acoherent light such as the light from a single mode laser source. Inother embodiments, the light 118 emitted from the light source 104 is acan incoherent light such as from a semiconductor light emitting device.In another embodiment, the display unit may be a refrigerator comprisingfront glass panel or door that allows the product, and the contents ofthe light reactive material 114 of the product to be visible fromoutside the display unit.

Although the display unit is illustrated with a plurality of areas,detectors, products, and light sources, the display unit may include anycombination of areas, products, light sources, and/or detectors. In somecases, the display unit may not include any detectors. In anotherembodiment, the display unit may include a single light source. In oneembodiment, a display unit may include a plurality of detectorsassociated with a single area or a plurality of areas. In anotherembodiment, a display unit may include a plurality of light sourcesassociated with a single area or plurality of areas. In yet anotherembodiment, a display unit may include a plurality of products displayedin a single area. In another embodiment, a display unit may include aplurality of areas associated with a single detector. In one embodiment,a display unit may include a plurality of light sources responsive to asingle detector. In another embodiment, a display unit may include aplurality of areas associated with a single or a plurality of detectors.In some embodiments, a display unit may include a plurality of areasassociated with either a single or plurality of products. In oneembodiment, a display unit may include a plurality of detectorsassociated with either a single or plurality of products. In otherembodiments, a display unit may include a plurality of light sourcesilluminating a single or a plurality of products. In another embodiment,a display unit may include a plurality of areas illuminated by either asingle or a plurality of light sources. In yet another embodiment, adisplay unit may include a plurality detectors associated with either asingle or a plurality of light sources. In some embodiments, a displayunit may include a plurality of products illuminated by either a singleor a plurality of light sources. A display unit may include any numberof areas, detectors, products and light sources, associated with eachother in any number of ways and combinations.

Still referring to FIG. 1A, the lighting control system 175 may includesoftware, hardware, or any combination of software and hardware forcontrolling, managing or otherwise directing the operation and/orperformance of one or more light sources 104A-104N. The lighting controlsystem 175 may include any type and form of logic, operations orfunctions embodied in executable instructions or in any type and form ofdigital and/or analog circuitry for performing any of the operationsdescribed herein. The lighting control system 175 may include any typeand form of executable instructions, including an application, program,library, process, service, task or thread. In one embodiment, thelighting control system 172 provides, includes and/or controls power toany of the light sources 104 and/or detectors 112 or 180.

The lighting control system 175 may include logic, functions oroperations to establish, determine, adapt, coordinate, manage and/orcontrol any characteristics of light produced, outputted, provided orotherwise emanating from one or more light sources 104A-104N, such asLEDs. In one embodiment, the lighting control system 175 establishes orcontrols a light source to produce or emanate a light of a predeterminedwavelength. In another embodiment, the lighting control system 175directs the light source to emanate a light having a wavelength in apredetermined range. In some embodiments, the lighting control system175 directs the light source to emanate a light at a predeterminedfrequency or within a predetermined frequency range. In otherembodiments, the lighting control system 175 adjusts one or morecharacteristics of the light to be emanated or emanating from the lightsource 104. In yet further embodiments, the lighting control system 175establishes or adjusts the color and/or color temperature of the lightto emanate from the light source. For example, the color may beestablished or adjusted based on a color rendering index or valuethereof. In another example, the color temperate may be established oradjusted based on a temperature value, such as via the Kelvin scale.

For example, in some embodiments, responsive to information from any oneor more detectors, the lighting control system 175 establishes oradjusts one or more characteristics of the light to be emanated oremanating from a light source 104. In other embodiments, responsive toinformation communicated via a network 103, the lighting control system175 establishes or adjusts one or more characteristics of the light tobe emanated or emanating from a light source 104. In another embodiment,the lighting control system 175 establishes or adjusts one or morecharacteristics of the light to be emanated or emanating from a lightsource 104 based on the display unit 102 and/or the products 116.

The lighting control system 175 may include any type and form ofcomputing device, such as any of the embodiments or portions of theembodiments of the computing device 100 described below in conjunctionwith FIGS. 1E-1F. In some embodiments, the lighting control system 175includes a central processing unit (CPU), a memory unit, a power supplyand a current driving circuitry related to powering and controlling LEDsas light source, such as a LED 104A. In another embodiment, the lightingcontrol system comprises a software application controlling the logicunit for managing the circuitry which powers up and controls an array ofLEDs, such as the light sources 104A through 104N as depicted in FIG.1A. In yet another embodiment, a lighting control system is a modulecomprising a CPU, a memory and a digital logic circuit subsystemassociated with control and management of the LEDs, such as an LED 104A.

The lighting control system 175 may be a commercial off the shelf (COTS)system. In one embodiment, the lighting control system 175 may be acustomized or proprietary system. In some embodiments, the lightingcontrol systems 175 includes any of the lighting control systems,products or modules manufactured or provided by Integrated IlluminationSystems, Inc. referred to as I2Systems, of Morris, Conn. An example ofone embodiment of a lighting control system 175 is described inconjunction with FIG. 1D below. In this embodiment, a lighting controlsystem 175 includes user interface modules and LED control modules tocontrol and drive one or more LEDs as lights sources.

A command panel 110 also sometime referred to as configuration tool 110may include software, hardware or any combination of software andhardware to configure or control any portion of the system, includingthe lighting control system 175, light source 104 and/or detectors 112,180. In some embodiments, the command panel or configuration tool 110 isdeployed on any type and form of computing device 100 as described inFIGS. 1E and 1F. The command panel may include any type and form of userinterface to provide configuration, instructions or commands to setup,direct or change operation and/or performance of the system. In oneembodiment, the command panel 110 may include a graphical userinterface. In another embodiment, the command panel 110 may include anytype and form of buttons, switches, or other physical elements by whicha user may select, adjust or change operation of the system. In anotherembodiment, the command panel 110 may comprise a touch screen forselecting or manipulating graphical user interface elements to controlor manage the system. As further described in an embodiment of thelighting control system 175 in FIG. 1D, a configuration tool 110 may beused to program and download instructions, commands or directives to anyportion of the lighting control system 175. For example, theconfiguration tool 110 may provide a user interface for a user toconfigure and program the system to operate in accordance with any ofthe operations described herein

The lighting control system 175, control panel 110 and/or any of thedetectors 112 and 180 may communicate via any type and form of network103. The network 103 may be any type and/or form of network and mayinclude any of the following: a point to point network, a broadcastnetwork, a wide area network, a local area network, a telecommunicationsnetwork, a data communication network, a computer network, an ATM(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network, a SONET (Synchronous OpticalNetwork) network, a SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network, awireless network and a wireline network. In some embodiments, thenetwork 103 may comprise a wireless link, such as an infrared channel orsatellite band. The topology of the network 103 may be a bus, star, orring network topology. The network 103 and network topology may be ofany such network or network topology as known to those ordinarilyskilled in the art capable of supporting the operations describedherein.

Although FIG. 1A shows a network 103 connected to the lighting controlsystem 175, any of the control panel, light sources, and detectors maybe on the same network 103 or a different network 103′ (not shown). Anyof the detectors 112, 180 may communicate via a network 103, 103′ to thelighting control system 175 and/or control panel 110. The networks 103and 103″ may be the same type of network or different types of networks.The network 103 may be a local-area network (LAN), such as a companyIntranet, a metropolitan area network (MAN), or a wide area network(WAN), such as the Internet or the World Wide Web. The networks 103,103′ may be a private or public network. In one embodiment, network 103′may be a private network and network 103 may be a public network. Insome embodiments, network 103 may be a private network and network 103′a public network. In another embodiment, networks 103, 103′ may beprivate networks.

In view of the system presented in FIG. 1A, in some embodiments, thesystem represents a lighting system for the display of products in avariety of applications for the purposes of marketing and advertisement.The display unit presents the products or product related materialwithin the light controlled environment. In some embodiments, theproduct is inside an enclosed area but may be visible to a consumer,inside or outside the display unit. The display unit may include anynumber of areas, each comprising controlled lighting provided via thelight source associated with the area, tailored to the display needs ofthe given products within the area, while being centrally controlled alighting control system. The advantage this system provides is anapplication solution for marketing and advertisement of products in anytype of environment which may enhance or increase marketability of abrand name or a product related feature: ranging from beverages insidefreezers, foods, consumables, clothes, shoes, appliances, and more.

Referring now to FIG. 1B, an illustration of portions of a product 116and display unit 102 having light reactive materials 114 is depicted. Inbrief overview, any one or more products 116 may have light reactivematerial 114. The light reactive material 114 may be on any portion ofthe product 116, such as the exterior and/or interface surface of theproduct 116. In some cases, the product 116 may include lettering,messaging or other visual elements 114′, such as trademark, symbol, or acompany name, comprising the light reactive material 114. Likewise, anyportion of the display unit 102, such as a shelf 105, may include lightreactive material 114. The display unit 102 may include any visualelements, such as lettering or messaging with light reactive materials114. Based on the type, form, design or construction, the light reactivematerial 114, 114, may respond or react to one or more characteristicsof light, such as wavelength, frequency or intensity, emanating from alight source 104, such as an LED.

The light reactive material 114, 114′ may comprise any type and form ofmaterial that has a reaction, response, change in appearance or effectfrom exposure to light having predetermined characteristics. In oneembodiment, the light reactive material may be organic and may emit anytype of light in response to absorption of light 118. For example, athin film organic light reactive material having photoluminescentcharacteristics may absorb a light 118, and in response, emit a lightwhose characteristics are determined by molecular specifications of thelight reactive material. In another embodiment, the light reactivematerial may be inorganic and may emit any type of light in response toabsorption of light 118. For example, a quantum dot including inorganicmaterials may absorb a light 118, and in response, emit a light whosecharacteristics are determined by the molecular specificationscomprising the quantum dot and by the size of the quantum dot. Inanother embodiment, a light reactive material may be a surface of anobject illuminated by the light with characteristics tailored for colorrendering of the object. For example, a red apple displayed in arefrigerator in a supermarket may be illuminated by a light whose colortemperature is tailored such that it makes the red apple appear more redto the consumer. The surface of the red apple, as a result of the colorrendering by the light source, is changing its appearance, and istherefore a light reactive material. In yet another embodiment, a lightreactive material may be an object illuminated by a light source for thepurpose of cleansing the object. For example, a vegetable is illuminatedby an ultraviolet light source for the purpose of killing bacteria onthe vegetable, the surface of the vegetable being the light reactivematerial. In yet another embodiment, a vegetable is illuminated by alight source with an enhanced 590 nm wavelength peak for the purpose ofpromoting the process of photosynthesis within the vegetable, thevegetable being the light reactive material.

Light reactive material may be any material that undergoes or expressesany type of reaction or change within the light reactive material, onthe surface of the light reactive material, or in the appearance of thelight reactive material as a response to the light emanating onto it. Inone embodiment, the light reactive material may be a fruit. In anotherembodiment, the light reactive material may be a vegetable. In someother embodiment, the light reactive material may be any organicmaterial. In one embodiment, the light reactive material may be anyinorganic material. In some embodiments, the light reactive material maybe a metal. In other embodiments, the light reactive material may be aproduct. In another embodiment, the light reactive material may be anymaterial manifesting reflectance of light. In one embodiment, the lightreactive material may be a metal. In yet another embodiment, the lightreactive material may be a wood. In some embodiments, the light reactivematerial may be a photoluminescent material. In other embodiments, thelight reactive material may be a fluorescent material. In yet otherembodiments, the light reactive material may be a phosphorescentmaterial. In some embodiments, the light reactive material may be apolymer. In some embodiments, the light reactive material may be a dye.In yet another embodiment, the light reactive material may be a quantumdot. In some other embodiment, the light reactive material may be anorganic thin film. In another embodiment, the light reactive materialmay be a surface of a product package. In yet another embodiment, thelight reactive material may be a glass. In still another embodiment, thelight reactive material may be a semiconductor. In a further embodiment,the light reactive material may be an insulator. In some otherembodiments, the light reactive material may be a plastic. In stillanother embodiment, the light reactive material may be a materialreflecting light.

Light reactive material may comprise any portion of a product, productrelated materials, or a display unit. In one embodiment, an exteriorsurface of the product may comprise a light reactive material. Inanother embodiment, an interior surface of the product may comprise alight reactive material. In some embodiments, a label may comprise alight reactive material. In yet other embodiments, a trademark maycomprise a light reactive material. In yet another embodiment, a barcodemay comprise a light reactive material. In still another embodiment,product related graphics or features may comprise a light reactivematerial. In yet some other embodiment, a package of a product maycomprise a light reactive material. In yet another embodiment, a companyname may comprise a light reactive material. In some embodiment, aproduct related phrase or a feature may comprise a light reactivematerial. In some other embodiment, a product name or a product logo maycomprise a light reactive material. In yet another embodiment, companyrelated graphics may comprise a light reactive material. In stillanother embodiment, a message associated with a company or a product maycomprise a light reactive material. In a further embodiment, a name maycomprise a light reactive material. In yet other embodiments, a symbolmay comprise a light reactive material. In some other embodiments, avegetable may comprise a light reactive material. In one embodiment, afruit may comprise a light reactive material. In another embodiment, anarticle of food may comprise a light reactive material. In yet anotherembodiment, a flower may comprise a light reactive material. In stillanother embodiment, a tree may comprise a light reactive material. Inyet another embodiment, a plant may comprise a light reactive material.In a further embodiment, a stone may comprise a light reactive material.

Light reactive material may comprise any portion of a display unit,including any portions of subcomponents associated with the displayunit. In one embodiment, the light reactive material may comprise aportion of an area. In another embodiment, the light reactive materialmay comprise graphics or symbols on the windows of the display unit. Inyet another embodiment, the light reactive material may comprise aportion of a floor of the display unit. In one embodiment, the lightreactive material may comprise a portion of a top of the display unit.In some other embodiment, the light reactive material may comprise aportion of a ceiling of the display unit. In yet another embodiment, thelight reactive material may comprise a portion of a bottom of thedisplay unit. In still another embodiment, the light reactive materialmay comprise a portion of a door handle of the display unit. In yet afurther embodiment, the light reactive material may comprise a portionof a wall of the display unit. In yet another embodiment, the lightreactive material may comprise a portion of a window of the displayunit.

In one embodiment, the light reactive material may exhibitphotoluminescence as a result of the light illuminating the lightreactive material. In another embodiment, the light reactive materialmay exhibit fluorescence as a result of the light illuminating the lightreactive material. In yet another embodiment, the light reactivematerial may exhibit a change in color as a result of the lightilluminating the light reactive material. In some other embodiment, thelight reactive material may exhibit a change in the appearance of coloras a result of the light illuminating the light reactive material. Inyet another embodiment, the light reactive material may exhibit a changein the amount of bacteria associated with the material as a result ofthe light illuminating the light reactive material. In anotherembodiment, the light reactive material may exhibit a change incharacteristics as a result of the light illuminating the light reactivematerial. In yet another embodiment, the light reactive material mayexhibit a change in ingredients as a result of the light illuminatingthe light reactive material. In some embodiments, color rendering isaccomplished by illuminating the surface of a product and altering thecolor of the product as perceived by the human eye, where the lightreactive material is the surface of a product given its change in colorperceived. In some other embodiments, the light source may be biased orconfigured to deliver any specific wavelength of light to the plants,such as vegetables, fruits, flowers etc., in order to promotephotosynthesis in the plants or increase the plants' levels ofingredients, such as vitamins, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium,niacin, etc, while being illuminated. In yet other embodiments, thelight 118 may be a light shifting color to create a visual effect, suchas to emphasize a product or capture the attention of the consumer.

FIG. 1B also illustrates two display features, associated with displayunit 102, and marked 114 light reactive materials. The display featuresillustrated do not necessarily have to be products or associated withthe products displayed. In some embodiments, display features areassociated with the display unit. In one embodiment, the displayfeatures are plates or stickers comprising a light reactive material 114inside the unit and are associated with the product displayed. In yetother embodiments, the display features are plates or stickers insidethe unit and not associated with the product displayed. In yet anotherembodiment, the display features are attachments on the shelves insidethe unit. In some other embodiment, the display features are attached tothe walls of the display unit. In another embodiment, the displayfeatures are attached to the windows of the display unit. In oneembodiment, the display features are stand alone components standingoutside of the area comprising products displayed, but still illuminatedby a light source associated with the unit.

Referring now to FIG. 1C, an illustration of electronic states ofmolecules of light reactive materials 114 is depicted. FIG. 1Crepresents a physical phenomenon involving fluorescent andphosphorescent emission from the light reactive materials, such as thelight reactive material 114 in this illustration. An embodiment ofphysical properties of the light reactive materials, such as theproperties depicted in this illustration where a UV source, invisible toa human eye, may be used to excite the molecules of the light reactivematerial 114 to emit the light, capturing the attention of the consumerare described. The illustration shows a light source 104 illuminating alight reactive material 114, and as a result of illumination by thelight source onto the light reactive material, a photoluminescencephenomenon is manifested. A diagram used to explain thephotoluminescence phenomenon of a light reactive material 114, theJablonski diagram, depicts electronic states of a molecule exhibitingfluorescence or phosphorescence and the transitions associated withthem. The Jablonski diagram depicts electronic states of a moleculealong with radiating and non-radiating transitions occurring between theelectronic states, where the radiating transitions result in the lightemitted from the molecule itself.

The thicker lines, within the diagram, are marked S0, S1, and S2 andcorrespond to singlet electronic states, while the T1 line correspondsto a triplet electronic state. Triplet states are metastable states ofthe molecule whose radiative emission is phosphorescent, while thesinglet state radiation is fluorescent. The distance between the groundS0 state and the excited states above corresponds to the difference inenergy between the two states. Thinner lines in the states correspond tothe vibrational levels. The electronic energy levels of excited tripletstates are normally lower than the electronic energy levels of excitedsinglet states of the same molecule.

Full bolded arrows up in the diagram in FIG. 1C, going from S0 groundstate up to S1 state or above, correspond to the energies of photonsfrom the light source 104 absorbed by the molecules of the lightreactive material 114. The arrow lengths represent energies of thephotons of light absorbed in comparison to the S1, S2 and T1 energylevels. When the energies of the photons absorbed exceed the S1electronic state level, a molecule gets excited from a ground state toan excited state, enabling radiative or non-radiative transitions downto the ground state.

Dashed arrows on the diagram in FIG. 1C represent internal conversion,or the non-radiative conversion. Non-radiative conversions usevibrational level to release some or all of the energy absorbed by thephoton, often creating heat in the system. The most left arrow on thegraph represents a case where an excited molecule may have a completenon-radiative transition from the S1 to the S0 via vibrational levels.In other cases, non-radiative transition between vibrational states inbetween excited singlet states such as S1 or S2 leads to the extraenergy being dissipated, resulting in the radiative transition where aphoton of light is emitted from the molecule, the photon emitted havingthe energy, and thus the wavelength, associated with the difference inenergies between the S0 and S1 levels.

Thinner full arrows up, going from S1 state to S0 or to vibrationalstates slightly above S0, represent fluorescent radiative emission,where a photon of light is emitted as the transition from S1 to S0occurs. The photon energy and wavelength associated with fluorescentemission are determined by the distance between the transitioned energylevels during the transitional displacement. The wavy arrows originatingfrom the arrow lines associated with fluorescent emission represent thephotons emitted for each of the fluorescent transitions.

Inter-system crossing, or inter-system non-radiative transition, occursbetween the singlet and triplet states and requires an interactionleading to a change of an electronic spin. As a result of inter-systemcrossing, a phosphorescent radiative emission occurs, and it is a slowerprocess than a fluorescent radiative emission. The thinner full arrowsgoing up, from T1 electronic state line to S0 ground state or thevibrational levels slightly above S0, represent the phosphorescentradiative emission transitions. Wavy arrows from these lines representthe photons of light emitted as the result of the phosphorescentemission.

Referring now to FIG. 1D, an embodiment of a lighting control system 175is depicted. In brief overview, a lighting control system 175 includesone or more user interface modules (UIMs) 109 for controlling andmanaging one or more LED control modules (LCMs) 106A-106N (generallyreferred to as LCM 106). Each LED control module 106, in turn, maydrive, control or manage an LED driver 107A-107N (generally referred toas LED driver 107) and a LED source 104A-104N (generally referred to asLED source 104). One or more LCMs 106A, LED Driver 107A and LED 104 amay form a lighting group 176A or lighting sub-network. A configurationtool 110 (CSP) may be used to configure any of the logic, function oroperations of the UIM 109 and/or LCM 106.

The lighting control system 175, sometimes referred to as lightingsystem, may include a plurality of network enabled devices, such as anetwork enabled UIM 109 communicating via a network 103 with one or morenetwork enabled LCMs 106. As will be described in further detail below,each of these network enabled devices may have a network address forcommunicating with each other. Each of the network enabled UIMs 109 andLCMs 106A-106N may communicate via a wired and/or wireless network usingany type and form of protocol. In some embodiments, the UIM and LCMscommunicate over an Internet Protocol or Ethernet based network. Invarious embodiments, the lighting system 175 may be considered toinclude those lighting related devices in communication with each otherto perform any of the functionality and operations described herein. Assuch, in some embodiments, the lighting system 175 includes the UIM 109and one or more LCMs 106A-106N. In other embodiments, the lightingsystem 175 includes the UIM 109 and the LCM and any LED drivers107A-107N and LEDs 104A-104N controlled and managed by the LCM and/orUIM. In yet another embodiment, the lighting system 175 includes the CSP110 in communication with the UIM 109. In further embodiments, thelighting system includes the UIM 109, the CSP 110 and any LCMs106A-106N.

In the lighting system 175, the UIM 109 provides various interfaces,such as analog or digital interfaces, that may be configured to performtasks, such as any lighting related task described herein. The UIM 109receives input from these interfaces that influences or controls outputto the LCM 106, which in turn controls and drives the LED drivers 107and LED source 104. A first UIM 109 may communicate via a network 103with and manage a plurality of LCMs 106A-106N. In some embodiments, aplurality of UIMs 109A-109N may be used to communicate with and manage aplurality of LCMs 106A-106N. In other embodiments, a first UIM 109A anda second UIM 109B may both communicate with and/or manage the same LCM106 or set of LCMs 106A-106N. In one embodiment, a UIM 106 may be usedto communicate and manage a lighting group 176.

The UIM 109 may also provide status, feedback or any other informationabout the operation and performance of the lighting system 175, or anyportion thereof, such as a specific LCM or LED driver. For example, theUIM may present a web page via the network 103 to a user to determinethe status of various operational aspects of the lighting system 175.The UIM 106 may include any monitoring and/or logging agents to detectand capture any activity of the operations and performance of thelighting system 175, or any portion thereof. In one embodiment, the UIM109 provides information on the status of the network 103 between theUIM and any LCMs 106. In another embodiment, the UIM 109 providesinformation on the status of an LCM 106.

The LCM 106 provides a mechanism and means to interface digital controlsand logic to a typical or otherwise “dumb” LED fixture 104. The LCM 106receives input, commands or instructions from the UIM 109 and/or CSP 120with respect to controlling, managing, driving or otherwise directingthe operation of the LED driver 107 and corresponding LED source 104.The LCM 106 provides any type and form of output to transmit signals toa corresponding LED driver 107. The LCM 106 may include any type andform of communication interface, analog and/or digital, to communicatewith an LED driver 107. In some embodiments, the LCM 106 may communicatewith the LED driver 107 via any type and form of software communicationinterface, such as an application programming interface (API). In otherembodiments, the LCM 106 may communicate with the LED driver 107 usingany type and form of hardware interface.

An LCM 106 may communicate with one or more LED drivers 107. In someembodiments, a first LCM 106A communicates with a first LED driver 107Aand a second LCM 106B communicates with a second LED driver 107B, and athird LCM 106C communicates with a third LED driver 107C, and so on. Inother embodiments, a first LCM 106B communicates with a first LED driver107A and a second LED driver 107B. In yet another embodiment, a firstLCM 106A and a second LCM 106B are both used to communicate with one ormore LED drivers 107. In some cases, a second LCM 106B may be usedconcurrently with a first LCM 106A for communicating with an LED driver107. In other cases, the second LCM 106 may used as backup or aredundant LCM to the first LCM 106A for communicating with one or moreLED drivers 107.

The LED driver 107 may include any type of logic, function or operationfor controlling the current and/or power delivered to an LED source 104.The LED driver 107 may include software, hardware or any combination ofsoftware and hardware. In various embodiments, the LED driver 107functions as an electronically-controlled current source providing apredetermined amount of current to one or more attached LED lightingmodules 104 in response to received control signals. In one embodiment,the LED driver 107 acts as or provides a constant current power supplyconfigured to provide a set current value to the LEDs despite the inputvoltage to the luminaire. For example, an Advance Transformer LED driver107 may take a 120VAC input and provide a 350 mA constant current outputwhereas the current is controlled and the voltage is stepped down, atypical “buck” topology. In some cases, the LED driver 107 may “boost”voltages in the case where the input voltage is lower than the forwardvoltage of the LEDs to be powered. In one case, the LED driver 107 maybe configured as a “buck-boost” whereas the input voltage may be steppedup or stepped down as required. In some embodiments, these LED Drivers107 offer dimming via a “PWM” (pulse width modulated signal), or analogcontrol voltages including 0 to 10V control voltages. In other cases,the LED driver 107 may pulse the power input to the LED source on andoff in order to adjust the intensity of the LED source 104.

The LED driver 107 may include a voltage-controlled current source, acurrent-controlled current source, a power MOSFET (Metal OxideSemiconductor Field Effect Transistor), power amplifiers, powertransistors, or high-current op-amps as well as resistive, capacitiveand switching elements. In some embodiments, the LED driver includescurrent-limiting circuit elements at its output, so that current levelsin excess of an LED's maximum rated value may not be exceeded. Thedriver 107 may include one or more input ports, e.g., a signal-controlreceiving port and an override control port, and one or more outputports, e.g., one or multiple signal output ports, a driver status port,and one or more current sensing ports. The LED driver 107 may receiveand send pulse-width modulated signals, e.g., square wave signals withvariable duty cycle. The input ports of the LED driver 107 may includeover-voltage protection and surge protection to prevent damage bytransient electrical fluctuations at its input ports.

In some embodiments, the LED driver 107 may be an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit), or a commercially produced, off-the-shelfLED driver chip. The driver 107 may be packaged in a housing, as aseparate element of the lighting system 175, or may be incorporated intoanother element of the network or lighting group, e.g. into an LCM 106Aor into an LED lighting assembly 104A. As an ASIC orcommercially-available driver chip, the driver may be incorporated ontoa printed circuit board (PCB) for custom-design or original-equipmentmanufacturing circuit applications. The LED driver 107 may have anexternal power supply, which powers internal circuitry in the driver andprovides a source of amperage for the attached LEDs 104. The externalpower supply may be dedicated to the LED driver or shared with anotherelement in the lighting system, e.g., an LCM.

In one embodiment, a first LED driver 107 communicates with or controlsa single LED source 104. In other embodiments, a first LED driver 107Acommunicates with or controls a plurality of LED sources 104A-104N. Inother embodiments, a first LED driver 107A communicates with or controlsa first LED source 104A while a second LED driver 107B communicates withor controls a plurality of LED sources 104B-104N.

Examples of commercially-available LED drivers include an ADM8845 seriesLED driver chip, providing up to 30 mA current and connections for sixLEDs, or an AD8240 series chip which must be used with an externaltransistor to provide sufficient drive current. Both of these driverchips are available from Analog Devices, Incorporated of Norwood, Mass.Other similar LED driver chips include: an FAN5607 LED driver chip,available from Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation of South Portland,Me., a STP16CP596 LED driver chip, available from STMicroelectronics ofLexington, Mass., or an LM27952 driver chip, available from NationalSemiconductor Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. An example of apackaged LED driver includes an LEDD1 driver, available from Thorlabs ofNewton, N.J., or a SmartDriver VDX driver, available from i2Systems ofMorris, Conn.

The LED light source 104 may include any type and form of LightingEmitting Diode (LED) based luminaire or luminaire source, such as an LEDlighting assembly. In some embodiments, the LED 104 may comprise one ormore semiconductor p-n junction light-emitting diodes. The LED assembly104 may be constructed, designed or adapted to receive current from aLED driver 107 and direct the current across the one or more p-njunctions in forward bias. In various embodiments, the brightness orintensity of light output from a diode is substantially proportionallyrelated to the amount of current flowing across the p-n junction. TheLED source 104 may include resistors to limit current flow across theone or more diodes, and may include heat sinks in thermal contact withthe diodes so as to dissipate from the diodes. Optical elements, such aslenses or diffusers may be placed over the LEDs to concentrate ordisperse emitted light. Wavelength shifting methods, such as thin filmscontaining organic fluorescent molecules or inorganic phosphorescentmolecules, may be included with the diodes to absorb and re-emitradiation at wavelengths shifted from the LED's natural emissionspectrum. The LED source 104 may include one or more diodes, eachemitting radiation at distinct wavelengths, e.g. red, amber, green, andblue. In other embodiments, the LEDs may comprise organic light-emittingdevices (OLEDs) or phosphorescent light-emitting devices (PHOLEDs) or acombination of LEDs, OLEDs and PHOLEDs. In some embodiments, the LEDs104 within an assembly may be mounted on an electromechanically-moveableelement, so that the direction of light output from the LED assembly maybe controlled. In yet other embodiments, an LED driver 107 may beincorporated within the LED lighting assembly 104.

Examples of commercially-available LED lighting assemblies or LEDsinclude the VML lighting assembly series, the Apeiron SDi Tri-Light, theV-Line series lighting assemblies, all available from i2Systems ofMorris, Conn. Additional examples include the Lumispot or LinkLEDlighting assemblies, available from Dialight Corporation of Farmingdale,N.J. or the Titan LED Light Engines available from Lamina of Westamptom,N.J. Alternatively, examples of individual LEDs include the ASMT serieslight sources, available from Avago Technologies of Andover, Mass.

Although FIG. 1D shows a network 103 and network 103′ (generallyreferred to as network(s) 103) between the UIM 109 and the LCMs 106 orCSP 120 the UIM 109, LCMs 106 and/or CSP may be on the same network 103.The networks 103 and 103″ may be the same type of network or differenttypes of networks. The network 103 may be a local-area network (LAN),such as a company Intranet, a metropolitan area network (MAN), or a widearea network (WAN), such as the Internet or the World Wide Web. Thenetworks 103, 103′ may be a private or public network. In oneembodiment, network 103′ or network 103″ may be a private network andnetwork 103 may be a public network. In some embodiments, network 103may be a private network and network 103 a public network. In anotherembodiment, networks 103, 103′ may be private networks.

B. Computing Device

The configuration tool or control panel 110, and the lighting controlsystem 175, or any portion thereof, may be deployed as and/or executedon any type and form of computing device 100, such as a computer,network device or appliance capable of communicating on any type andform of network and performing the operations described herein. In someembodiments, any of the functionality, operations or logic of the UIM109, LCM 106, LED Driver 107 and/or LED 104 described herein may besupported by, configured via, performed by or deployed on a computingdevice 100. In other embodiments, any portion of the UIM 109, LCM 106,LED Driver 107 and/or LED 108 may include or comprise any portion of thecomputing device 100 described below.

FIGS. 1E and 1F depict block diagrams of a computing device 100 usefulfor practicing an embodiment of the present solution. As shown in FIGS.1D and 1E, each computing device 100 includes a central processing unit101, and a main memory unit 122. As shown in FIG. 1D, a computing device100 may include a visual display device 124, a keyboard 126 and/or apointing device 127, such as a mouse. Each computing device 100 may alsoinclude additional optional elements, such as one or more input/outputdevices 130 a-130 b (generally referred to using reference numeral 130),and a cache memory 140 in communication with the central processing unit101.

The central processing unit 101 is any logic circuitry that responds toand processes instructions fetched from the main memory unit 122. Inmany embodiments, the central processing unit is provided by amicroprocessor unit, such as: those manufactured by Intel Corporation ofMountain View, Calif.; those manufactured by Motorola Corporation ofSchaumburg, Ill.; those manufactured by Transmeta Corporation of SantaClara, Calif.; the RS/6000 processor, those manufactured byInternational Business Machines of White Plains, N.Y.; or thosemanufactured by Advanced Micro Devices of Sunnyvale, Calif. Thecomputing device 100 may be based on any of these processors, or anyother processor capable of operating as described herein.

Main memory unit 122 may be one or more memory chips capable of storingdata and allowing any storage location to be directly accessed by themicroprocessor 101, such as Static random access memory (SRAM), BurstSRAM or SynchBurst SRAM (BSRAM), Dynamic random access memory (DRAM),Fast Page Mode DRAM (FPM DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), Extended DataOutput RAM (EDO RAM), Extended Data Output DRAM (EDO DRAM), BurstExtended Data Output DRAM (BEDO DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), JEDEC SRAM, PC100 SDRAM, Double Data RateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), SyncLink DRAM (SLDRAM),Direct Rambus DRAM (DRDRAM), or Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM). The mainmemory 122 may be based on any of the above described memory chips, orany other available memory chips capable of operating as describedherein. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1D, the processor 101communicates with main memory 122 via a system bus 150 (described inmore detail below). FIG. 1E depicts an embodiment of a computing device100 in which the processor communicates directly with main memory 122via a memory port 103. For example, in FIG. 1E the main memory 122 maybe DRDRAM.

FIG. 1F depicts an embodiment in which the main processor 101communicates directly with cache memory 140 via a secondary bus,sometimes referred to as a backside bus. In other embodiments, the mainprocessor 101 communicates with cache memory 140 using the system bus150. Cache memory 140 typically has a faster response time than mainmemory 122 and is typically provided by SRAM, BSRAM, or EDRAM. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 1D, the processor 101 communicates with variousJ/O devices 130 via a local system bus 150. Various busses may be usedto connect the central processing unit 101 to any of the J/O devices130, including a VESA VL bus, an ISA bus, an EISA bus, a MicroChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a PCI bus, a PCI-X bus, a PCI-Express bus, or aNuBus. For embodiments in which the I/O device is a video display 124,the processor 101 may use an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) to communicatewith the display 124. FIG. 1E depicts an embodiment of a computer 100 inwhich the main processor 101 communicates directly with I/O device 130via HyperTransport, Rapid I/O, or InfiniBand. FIG. 1E also depicts anembodiment in which local busses and direct communication are mixed: theprocessor 101 communicates with I/O device 130 using a localinterconnect bus while communicating with I/O device 130 directly.

The computing device 100 may support any suitable installation device116, such as a floppy disk drive for receiving floppy disks such as3.5-inch, 5.25-inch disks or ZIP disks, a CD-ROM drive, a CD-R/RW drive,a DVD-ROM drive, tape drives of various formats, USB device, hard-driveor any other device suitable for installing software and programs suchas the configuration tool 110, or portion thereof. The computing device100 may further comprise a storage device 128, such as one or more harddisk drives or redundant arrays of independent disks, for storing anoperating system and other related software, and for storing applicationsoftware programs such as any program related to the control panel 110.Optionally, any of the installation devices 116 could also be used asthe storage device 128. Additionally, the operating system and thesoftware can be run from a bootable medium, for example, a bootable CD,such as KNOPPIX®, a bootable CD for GNU/Linux that is available as aGNU/Linux distribution from knoppix.net.

Furthermore, the computing device 100 may include a network interface118 to interface to a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN)or the Internet through a variety of connections including, but notlimited to, standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN links (e.g., 802.11,T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections (e.g., ISDN, Frame Relay,ATM), wireless connections, or some combination of any or all of theabove. The network interface 118 may comprise a built-in networkadapter, network interface card, PCMCIA network card, card bus networkadapter, wireless network adapter, USB network adapter, modem or anyother device suitable for interfacing the computing device 100 to anytype of network capable of communication and performing the operationsdescribed herein.

A wide variety of I/O devices 130 a-130 n may be present in thecomputing device 100. Input devices include keyboards, mice, trackpads,trackballs, microphones, and drawing tablets. Output devices includevideo displays, speakers, inkjet printers, laser printers, anddye-sublimation printers. The I/O devices 130 may be controlled by anI/O controller 123 as shown in FIG. 1D. The I/O controller may controlone or more I/O devices such as a keyboard 126 and a pointing device127, e.g., a mouse or optical pen. Furthermore, an I/O device may alsoprovide storage 128 and/or an installation medium 116 for the computingdevice 100. In still other embodiments, the computing device 100 mayprovide USB connections to receive handheld USB storage devices such asthe USB Flash Drive line of devices manufactured by Twintech Industry,Inc. of Los Alamitos, Calif.

In some embodiments, the computing device 100 may comprise or beconnected to multiple display devices 124 a-124 n, which each may be ofthe same or different type and/or form. As such, any of the I/O devices130 a-130 n and/or the I/O controller 123 may comprise any type and/orform of suitable hardware, software, or combination of hardware andsoftware to support, enable or provide for the connection and use ofmultiple display devices 124 a-124 n by the computing device 100. Forexample, the computing device 100 may include any type and/or form ofvideo adapter, video card, driver, and/or library to interface,communicate, connect or otherwise use the display devices 124 a-124 n.In one embodiment, a video adapter may comprise multiple connectors tointerface to multiple display devices 124 a-124 n. In other embodiments,the computing device 100 may include multiple video adapters, with eachvideo adapter connected to one or more of the display devices 124 a-124n. In some embodiments, any portion of the operating system of thecomputing device 100 may be configured for using multiple displays 124a-124 n. In other embodiments, one or more of the display devices 124a-124 n may be provided by one or more other computing devices, such ascomputing devices 100 a and 100 b connected to the computing device 100,for example, via a network. These embodiments may include any type ofsoftware designed and constructed to use another computer's displaydevice as a second display device 124 a for the computing device 100.One ordinarily skilled in the art will recognize and appreciate thevarious ways and embodiments that a computing device 100 may beconfigured to have multiple display devices 124 a-124 n.

In further embodiments, an I/O device 130 may be a bridge 170 betweenthe system bus 150 and an external communication bus, such as a USB bus,an Apple Desktop Bus, an RS-232 serial connection, a SCSI bus, aFireWire bus, a FireWire 800 bus, an Ethernet bus, an AppleTalk bus, aGigabit Ethernet bus, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode bus, a HIPPI bus, aSuper HIPPI bus, a SerialPlus bus, a SCI/LAMP bus, a FibreChannel bus,or a Serial Attached small computer system interface bus.

A computing device 100 of the sort depicted in FIGS. 1E and 1F typicallyoperate under the control of operating systems, which control schedulingof tasks and access to system resources. The computing device 100 can berunning any operating system such as any of the versions of theMicrosoft® Windows operating systems, the different releases of the Unixand Linux operating systems, any version of the Mac OS® for Macintoshcomputers, any embedded operating system, any real-time operatingsystem, any open source operating system, any proprietary operatingsystem, any operating systems for mobile computing devices, or any otheroperating system capable of running on the computing device andperforming the operations described herein. Typical operating systemsinclude: WINDOWS 3.x, WINDOWS 95, WINDOWS 98, WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS NT3.51, WINDOWS NT 4.0, WINDOWS CE, and WINDOWS XP, all of which aremanufactured by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; MacOS,manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif.; OS/2, manufacturedby International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y.; and Linux, afreely-available operating system distributed by Caldera Corp. of SaltLake City, Utah, or any type and/or form of a Unix operating system,among others.

In other embodiments, the computing device 100 may have differentprocessors, operating systems, and input devices consistent with thedevice. For example, in one embodiment the computer 100 is a Treo 180,270, 1060, 600 or 650 smart phone manufactured by Palm, Inc. In thisembodiment, the Treo smart phone is operated under the control of thePalmOS operating system and includes a stylus input device as well as afive-way navigator device. Moreover, the computing device 100 can be anyworkstation, desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, server,handheld computer, mobile telephone, any other computer, or other formof computing or telecommunications device that is capable ofcommunication and that has sufficient processor power and memorycapacity to perform the operations described herein.

C. Methods of Controlling Lights Delivered to Products in Display

Referring now to FIG. 2, an embodiment of steps of a method 200 forcontrolling characteristics of light emanating from a light source inassociation with products presented for display is illustrated. In briefoverview of method 200, at step 205, a lighting control system 175 isdeployed or used to control one or more lighting sources in areas of adisplay unit in an environment having light reactive material. The lightreactive material may react to one or more predetermined characteristicsof light. For example, the lighting control system 175 is used inconjunction with a display unit 102 for displaying products or productrelated features in an environment such as a store, a display station ina mall, or a refrigerator in a store. At step 210, the lighting controlsystem 175 is configured to establish one or more characteristics of thelight emanating from the light source to correspond to thecharacteristics of light desired for the light reactive material to bereactive. In this step, configuration may be any type of systemsettings, calibration values, instructions, or commands customized for agiven light reactive material illuminated. At step 215, the lightingcontrol system 175 directs the light source to emanate the light havingthe established characteristics desired for the light reactive material.At step 220, the lighting control system 175 may change or adjust thepredetermined characteristics of the emanating light source responsiveto a detector, further configuration, etc. The system may be responsiveto any changes in environment conditions by changing the light sourceaccordingly.

In more detail, at step 205, any type and form of lighting controlsystem 175 may be deployed with any type and form of display unit 102 orotherwise in any environment. In one embodiment, the lighting controlsystem 175 is installed and operated to control one or more lightingsources of a display unit having products with light reactive material.In another embodiment, the lighting control system 175 is installed andoperated to control one or more lighting sources of a display unithaving portions of the display unit with light reactive material. Inother embodiments, the lighting control system 175 is installed andoperated to control one or more lighting sources in any environmenthaving light reactive material external to the product and/or displayunit. In some embodiments, the lighting control system may be deployedremote to the product and/or display unit. For example, the lightingcontrol system may operate on a computing device in a location remote tothe display unit and communicate with the light sources 104 via anetwork 103. In another embodiment, the lighting control system 175 isdeployed in the vicinity of the display unit but not attached to orconnected to the display unit. For example, a lighting control system175 may be deployed in a first or central location to control and managelight sources 104 for a plurality of display units in multiplelocations.

By way of example, a lighting control system 175 deployed in step 205may be a system inside a clothing store where a brand of clothing isdisplayed under a UV light in order to emphasize photoluminescentfeatures of the logos on the clothing. A system may also be deployed tocreate a light show effect of water or a sea breeze when illuminating abrand of body wash products. In another example, the lighting controlsystem 175 is deployed to illuminate fruits, vegetables or otherproducts stored in a refrigerator in a supermarket.

Also in another example, a lighting control system 175 deployed in step205 may be a system inside a clothing store where a brand of clothing isdisplayed under a blue light in order to emphasize photoluminescentfeatures of the logos on the clothing. A system may also be deployed tocreate a light show effect of water or a sea breeze when illuminating abrand of body wash products. In another example, the lighting controlsystem 175 is deployed to illuminate fruits, vegetables or otherproducts stored in a refrigerator in a supermarket.

The lighting control system 175 may be deployed to control light sourcesto cause a reaction in any type and form of light reactive material 114.In case where the light emanating from a light source illuminates alight reactive material that induces a response from the material,including a response inside of it, response on its surface, or a changein a perception to a viewer, the given material then is a light reactivematerial. In some embodiments, a light emanating from a light source andilluminating a vegetable stored inside a refrigerator may initiate aprocess of photosynthesis inside a vegetable, then the vegetable may beconsidered a light reactive material. In another embodiment, a lightemanating from a light source and illuminating vegetables may havecharacteristics which kill the bacteria inside and on the surface ofvegetables. The vegetable being illuminated is, in this case also, alight reactive material. In yet another embodiment, a light source isilluminating a product for the purpose of color rendering, which altersthe perception of the color in the eye of the consumer due to thecombination of the color of the illuminated object and the color oflight illuminating the object, the object being illuminated is also alight reactive material.

At step 210, the lighting control system 175 may be configured orinstructed by any means to establish or set the characteristics of thelight emanating from the light source to correspond to thecharacteristics of light desired for the light reactive material. Insome cases, the lighting control system 175 is configured dynamicallyduring operation. In other embodiments, the lighting control system 175is configured statically or between operations. In one embodiment, thelighting control system 175 may be configured via a configuration tool110. In another embodiment, the lighting control system 175 may beconfigured via a command panel 110. In other embodiments, the lightingcontrol system 175, such as via the UIM or LCM, may receive instructionsvia a network 103 to establish the characteristics of light emanatingfrom the light source. In some embodiments, the lighting control system175 sets or establishes the characteristics of light emanating from thelight source responsive to information received from any one or moredetectors 112, 180. In yet another embodiment, the lighting controlsystem 175 is preconfigured or preset to emanate light have the desiredcharacteristics corresponding to the light reactive material.

Via the configuration, the lighting control system may establish anyparameters or settings representing the characteristics of light toemanate from the light source, such as color, wavelength, frequency,intensity, etc. Configuration or establishment of the lighting controlsystem 175 may include the setting, calibration or adjustment of anytype of parameters or settings via any type of interface, such as anapplication programming interface, graphical user interface or commandline interface. Configuration may include issuing any commands orinstructions. In some embodiments, configuration may include the use ofany type and form of protocols, software programs, control scripts orany other type of instructions to control the characteristics of theemitted light tailored to the needs of the light reactive material. Inone case, configuration may take place via a network connection to thelighting control system 175, such as via an Internet connection. Anotherway to configure the system may be using a blue tooth receiver to sendcommands or instructions to the lighting control system 175 from anytype and form of mobile device. Furthermore, the system settings andconfiguration parameters may be stored in memory or storage of thelighting control system during installation. In some cases, one or morecommands may be used to activate the stored configuration settings. Thelighting control system may also be pre-configured by the factory attime of manufacture and/or prior to installation or shipment.

At step 215, the lighting control system 175 directs, requests orinstructs the light source to emanate light having the configured orestablished characteristics desired for the light reactive material.Responsive to the establishment of the lighting characteristics at step210, the lighting control system 175 directs the light sources toprovide light in accordance with the desired characteristics for thelight reactive material 114. In some embodiments, the lighting controlsystem 175 turns on the light source 104. Upon powering up, the lightsource 204 may provide the light in accordance with the establishedcharacteristics. In other embodiments, the light source is alreadypowered on and the lighting control system 175 changes or adjusts thecharacteristics of light emanating from the light source. In someembodiments, the lighting control system 175 is controlling multiplelights sources directed to the light reactive material 114. Responsiveto the established light characteristics at step 215, the lightingcontrol system 175 may direct one light source of the multiple lightsources to emanate the established lighting characteristics towards thelight reactive material. In another embodiment, the lighting controlsystem 175 may direct all or more than one of the multiple light sourcesto emanate the established lighting characteristics towards the lightreactive material.

In one embodiment, at step 215, since the system is configured to thesettings desired for a given product or a display feature, the requestis sent by the lighting control system for the light source to emanatelight according to the established light characteristics. In oneembodiment, this request may originate for the user sending the commandvia a remote control associated with the system. The lighting controlsystem 175, such as via UIM, receives the request and sends the requestto an LCM as depicted in FIG. 1D. The LCM then issues the command andthe instructions associated with the illumination characteristics for aspecific light reactive material to the LED Driver, which in responseturns the LED 104 on in a way specified by the LCM. In another example,a request may also be issued to the lighting control system 175 via anetwork, which in response sends the commands and instructions to theLCM associated with the illumination characteristics of a specific lightreactive material, which in response instructs the LED driver to turnthe LED 104 on in a way specified by the instructions. Furthermore, inanother example, a timer may trigger the request to the lighting controlsystem 117, which in turn sends the command to emanate the light via theLCM and the LED Driver. In yet another example, a sensor 112 may be usedto determine the presence of consumers in the environment of the displayunit. In response, a request if forwarded to the lighting control system175, which in turn sends the command to have light emanate accordinglyvia the LCM and the LED Driver. Any number of means or methods may beused to trigger the request for the lighting control system to cause thelight source to emanate according to the desired lightingcharacteristics.

At step 220, the output of the light source is adjusted or changed, viathe lighting control system 175, to emanate light having predeterminedcharacteristics responsive to detectors, sensors, configuration, etc.While the system is in operation and the light is illuminating from thelight source towards the area having light reactive material, requestsmay be issued via the lighting control system 175 to alter thecharacteristics of the light output. For example, a product may bechanged in the area of the display 102, for example from one product toanother product, such as red apples. In one embodiment, the lightingcontrol system 175 may adjust the output of the light emanating towardsan assortment of red apples replacing a previous product which requireda different light illumination from that desired for the red apples.Upon placing the red apples into the area of the display unit 102, adetector or user may send a signal to the lighting control system 175 tochange the light properties of the emanating light for the new product,such as a stronger red color component in order to use color renderingwhen displaying the red apples.

In another example, an enclosed refrigerator may display vegetables andfruits and have a door monitored by an interlock sensor. Therefrigerator may include two separate light sources. The first lightsource may be a UV light source which illuminates vegetables with UVlight, killing bacteria while the sensor monitoring the door isdetecting the doors of the fridge to be closed. The second light sourcemay be a white light source, turned on only when the doors of therefrigerator are opened. The light emitted inside the fridge isinitially a UV light emitted from the first light source. When the useropens the door, the user triggers the sensor to send the request to thelighting control system 175 to switch the light source, which in turnssends the commands and instructions to the LCM and LED Driver to turnoff the UV light source and turn on the second white light source. Theuser then has a clearer view of the refrigerator. However, once thedoors are closed again, the sensor sends another command to the lightingcontrol system 175 to turn of the white light source and resume UV lightillumination of the products inside the fridge.

One embodiment that provides another example of method 200 describedabove includes a lighting control system 175 to control an array oflighting sources for emanating light having wavelength properties thatpromote photosynthesis in vegetables, such as vegetables stored in arefrigerator inside a store. In this example, the lighting controlsystem 175 requires controls one or more light source to illuminate anarea in the refrigerator displaying green vegetables using a white lightin the presence of consumers in the vicinity of the refrigerator. In theabsence of consumers near the refrigerator, the lighting control system175 shifts the wavelength spectrum of the light emanating from the lightsource 104 to a spectrum with a dominating 590 nm wavelength in order topromote the process of photosynthesis within the leaves of thevegetables. The 590 nm wavelength dominated light helps the vegetablescreating chlorophyll, making them look greener, and also helps thevegetables with the process of photosynthesis. The vegetables which arereacting to the 590 nm dominated light via the photosynthesis or thecreation of chlorophyll, are the light reactive material in thisexample. The configuration of the lighting control system 175 mayinclude establishment of two settings for the illumination of thevegetables. One setting is associated with white light illuminationwhich is more presentable to the consumer, and the other setting isassociated with a 590 nm light dominated illumination, which helps thevegetables with the process of creation or activation of chlorophyll andthe process of photosynthesis.

While the store is closed or otherwise no customers are detected nearthe vicinity of the display unit 102, a detector 180 sends a signal tothe lighting control system 175 that no movement is detected orotherwise an indication that there are no customers near the displayunit. Upon receiving the request, the lighting control system 174 sendsinstructions to the LCM, which in response sends instructions to the LEDDriver to emanate light from the LED 104. As the result, the lightshifts to orange 590 nm wavelength dominated light, and the vegetablesilluminated activate chlorophyll and maintain the process ofphotosynthesis. A detector 180 may sense the arrival of a customer nearthe vicinity of the display unit. The detector 180 then sends therequest to the lighting control system 175, such as via network 104,which in response issues instructions to the LCM to turn off the 590 nmdominated light and turn on the white light. The 590 nm dominated lightis turned off, and the white light is turned on.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of steps of a method 300 forcontrolling characteristics of light from a light source in associationwith one or more detectors is depicted. In brief overview of method 300,at step 305, a lighting control system 175 is used to control one ormore light sources to emanate light toward areas of a display unit forpresenting one or more products. At step 310, one or more detectorsdetect a state or condition of the environment, such as, presence,absence, movement, quantity, etc, of a product in an area of the displayunit. At step 315, the lighting control system 175 is configured ormanaged to provide one or more characteristics of the light emanatingfrom the light source to correspond to characteristics of light desiredbased on and responsive to detectors. At step 320, the lighting controlsystem 175 requests or otherwise causes the light source to emanate thelight having the characteristics desired based on the detection. At step325, the lighting control system 175 may change or adapt thecharacteristics of the light emanating from light source to havepredetermined characteristics responsive to the detector, sensor,configuration etc, such as from continuous monitoring of environmentalstates or conditions.

In further detail, in step 305, a lighting control system 175 isprovided to control one or more LED light sources to emanate lighttoward areas of a display unit for presenting one or more products. Thelighting control system 175 may be in communication with one or moredetectors 112, 180, such as via a network 103. Any type and form of oneor more of the same or different detectors 112, 180 may be deployed. Thedetectors 112, 180 may be deployed in any portion of the display unit,interior or exterior. In other embodiments, the detectors 112, 180 maybe deployed to predesignated areas of a display unit for products. Inanother embodiment, the detectors 112, 180 may be placed, located and/ororiented in a manner to obtain appropriate or suitable detection of astate or condition.

The lighting control system 175 may be deployed in any type ofenvironment and for a multitude of applications. For example, in oneembodiment, a display unit may be set up inside a clothing store. Thelighting control system 175, either local or remote to the display unit,controls a plurality of lighting sources illuminating light towards abrand of clothing using a UV light in order to emphasize the brand logoson the clothing, The brand logos may include contains photoluminescentlight reactive material. Another example may be a system to create alight show effect of water, fire, or a sea breeze when illuminating abrand of body wash products in a store window. In another example, thelighting control system controls light sources inside a fridge havingvegetables or fruits. Other examples may include color renderingapplications, involving a display unit with a lighting control systemwhich controls the characteristics of the light illuminating theproducts presented via the display unit.

At step 310, one or more detectors may detect any state or condition ofthe environment, such as a state or condition of the products, or theambient environment of the display unit or product. In yet otherembodiments, the detector may detect any state or condition of anenvironment remote to the product or display unit, such as thetemperature in a remote location. In one embodiment, one or moredetectors may detect a state of presence, absence, movement, or quantityof products in an area of a display unit. In other embodiments, thedetectors may detect a color or color temperature of a product. In someembodiments, the detector may determine via a bar code and/or RFID taginformation about the product. An example of such instance could be aconsumer approaching the shelf comprising products to be illuminated viaa light show. Another example may be the sensor detecting the absence ofproducts left in the shelf on the display such as via a weight orpressure sensor. Other embodiment may involve sensors detecting a useror object movement, a temperature, or sound from the area or theenvironment surrounding the system. Other examples may also include anysystem involving a sensor detection of any kind for the purpose ofdetecting a state of an area, or a state of any of the relevantparameters from the area or a surrounding environment. The detectors maycommunicate information in any format or via any protocol to thelighting control system 175.

At step 315, responsive to the detectors or information provided by thedetectors, the lighting control system 175 adapts or establishes one ormore characteristics of the light emanating from the light source tocorrespond to predetermined characteristics of light desired based onand responsive to the detection. One example of this method isconfiguring a light control system 175 to have settings specified andassign to each of the products which may be displayed in an area. Thesettings of the lighting control system 175 may be as such that thelighting control systems makes adjustments to the characteristics of thelight emanating from the light sources in response to a signal from adetector. An example of this embodiments, is configuring the lightingcontrol system 175 such that a first setting is used for a light havinga first characteristics for a display of green vegetables and a secondsetting for a light having a second characteristic for display of redapples. The lighting control system 175 may change between two settingsresponsive to the detector sensing the tags associated with products.The lighting control system 175 may be configured in any way to havesettings for light characteristics associated with each of the products,and the change of the settings being responsive to a signal from adetector. The lighting control system 175 may dynamically establish orchange the characteristics of the light emanating from a light sourcebased on any business rules and information received from one or moredetectors.

In further details, at step 320, the lighting control system requeststhe light source to emanate the light having the characteristics desiredbased on the detection. In one embodiment, the lighting control system175 makes the request immediately upon detection. In another embodiment,the lighting control system 175 makes the request upon a predeterminedtime after receiving the detection or otherwise a predetermined delay.In other embodiments, the lighting control system 175 makes the requestupon receiving a second detection or upon other information receivedfrom any other detector. In yet one embodiment, the lighting controlsystem 175 requests the light source to emanate the light having thecharacteristics desired based on signals or information from multipledetectors, such as detection of a predetermined product and atemperature. In some embodiments, the lighting control system 175controls light from a single light source based on the detection. Inother embodiments, the lighting control system 175 controls light frommultiple light sources based on the detection.

In one example, a detector senses arrival of a customer at the displayor into a store and sends a signal to the light control system. Inresponse to the signal, the lighting control system 175 may adjust thelighting of the light source from one spectrum of lighting to anotherspectrum of lighting. In another example, the lighting control systemmay switch between white light to the UV light responsive to detectionthat the doors of a display unit are closed.

At step 325, the lighting control system 175 may continuously change oradapt the characteristics of the light emanating from the light sourceto one more predetermined characteristics responsive to the detector,control panel, information received via the network, etc. As thelighting control system receives signals from one or more detectors, thelighting control system dynamically adjusts the characteristics of thelight emanating from the light sources based on and responsive to thedetections. For example, as the ambient environment to the product ordisplay unit changes, the lighting control system changes thecharacteristics of the light emanating from the light sources inresponse to the changes in the ambient environment. The lighting controlsystem 175 may make adjustments to the light characteristics on apredetermined frequency based on the most recent detected information.In other embodiments, the lighting control system 175 may makeadjustments to the light characteristics upon receipt of signals from adetector or receipt of signals from multiple detectors.

EXAMPLES

In view of the structure, functions and operations of the systems andmethods described above, the present solution may be used for improvingmarketability and enhancing brand recognition of products. The systemsand methods described herein may be used in any one or more of thefollowing examples to be discussed below: 1) color renderingapplications, 2) sensor integration applications, 3) food preservationapplications, 4) stocking level alert applications, 5) special effectsapplications and 6) energy savings applications.

In the example embodiment of a color rendering application, the systemsand methods of the present solution is utilized for the purpose ofimproving the presentation of a product by enhancing or altering thecolors of products as perceived by the consumer. Color rendering,according to the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America(IESNA), is the measure of the degree of color shift objects undergowhen illuminated by the light source as compared with the color thosesame objects when illuminated by a reference source of comparable colortemperature. In one embodiment, a lighting control system may beconfigured to have preset selections for different types of food, andcolors associated with it so that the user may use a user interfacemodule to change the settings for the products currently beingdisplayed. The system may feature a touch screen interface, buttons, ora control panel display listing various types of products, such asmeats, vegetables, beverages, fruits, etc., which contain presetcharacteristics of light aimed at augmenting certain features of theproducts. For example, a “Red Meat” button may have a number ofconfiguration settings for the lighting control system associatedincluding the color temperature settings for the light source forilluminating the red meat displayed with a light that makes the red meatappear more red. Another button on the user interface module may be a“Chicken” button. Since the chicken is yellow/brown in appearance, theconfiguration settings associated with this button may include theinstructions for the lighting system to bias the white light to includea stronger yellow and orange components of light bringing out the colorof the chicken. There may also be a button for metal or reflectiveobjects which generally are intended to appear very pure, sleek, andshiny. For color rendering applications, the lighting control systemmaybe configured for a number of different settings and configurationstailored to achieve a color of the products desired to be perceived asby the consumer. In some embodiments, the system may integrate red,green and blue LEDs, or other variations such as a white LED with amber,to achieve different color temperatures for color rendering. In otherembodiments, the system may comprise a wireless network communicatingbetween different units utilizing wireless protocols such as Zigbee.

In an example of a sensor integration application, a color renderinglighting control system may include one or more sensors that detectcolor or colors of the environment. For example, a display unit mayfeature a color sensor placed in the display unit at a location to senseor establish a product's color. The sensor detects the color of theproduct, and provides information on the detected color to the lightingcontrol system. In response to the detection, the lighting controlsystem adjusts the settings of the light source associated with theproduct displayed. Such a feature enables a user to make simpleadjustments for the fine tuned auto-calibrated color rendering of anyproduct displayed in any display unit.

In further sensor integration examples, the system may utilize anynumber of different sensors or detectors, such as detectors for motion,light, sound, proximity, metal, weight, touch, etc. One such embodimentmay be a lighting control system receiving a signal from an interfacedradio frequency identification detector (RFID). For example, a grocerystore or a supermarket may utilize a particular store card in order tooffer the customers discounts and track customer purchases. A storecard, associated with a user may have a RFID tag for use at the store. Adatabase for the store may include a history of consumer's previouspurchases, and may assign individual configuration settings for aparticular consumer for any given line of products based on theconsumer's purchasing history. Once the system detects the proximity ofthe user to a display unit, the lighting control system, in response tothe detection, may adjust the lighting characteristics of lightemanating to the shelves and areas in the vicinity based on theconfiguration settings for the consumer. The system may also utilize thedatabase including the history of consumer's previous purchases torecommend sale items for which the customer may be interested. Thesystem may adjust the lighting characteristics of light emanating fromlight sources to direct the consumer's attention to such sale items.

In another example application, the systems and methods of the presentsolution may be tailored for a range of food preservation applications.In one embodiment, a display unit may be utilized to promotephotosynthesis in vegetables and greens stored in a display area. Thelighting control system may deliver light having a strong orange lightcomponent for assisting the plants in activating chlorophyll. As aresult, several days later, the green vegetables may look even greener.In another embodiment, a lighting control system may be configured witha motion sensor which upon detecting the motion in the presence of thedisplay unit sends the signal to the lighting control system, which inresponse changes the lighting from orange lighting to a white light. Inone embodiment, a cabbage stored in refrigeration display may be exposedto a light which enhances Vitamin C and chlorophyll of the cabbage. Sucha health oriented application may utilize a 590 nm dominated light in acombination with specific humidity levels inside the refrigerator tomake the vegetables greener and enhance the Vitamin C and Vitamin Dlevels. In a further embodiment, a pulsating UV light may be utilizedinside a refrigerator storing vegetables, fruits, milk and other foodsin order to kill the bacteria living in the foods. In embodimentsrelating the pulsating UV light application for killing bacteria in thefoods, a timer, or a motion sensor may be employed. For example, a storethat closes at 12:00 A.M. may program the controller to activate the UVLED system at 12:30 A.M. every night and return to normal operation at6:00 A.M.

In yet another example application, the systems and methods of thepresent solution may be used for a range of stocking applications, suchas stock alerts and inventory level alerts. In some embodiments, thelighting control system allows entering in product information data tothe display cabinet for the products being displayed and utilizing thesystem to provide particular feedback based on this product information.In one embodiment, the product information data entered is related tothe restocking alerts. In another embodiment, the display unitinterfaces with the system having the product information data enteredvia a wired network or even wirelessly. In a group of embodiments,sensors may be utilized for monitoring stocking applications. In oneembodiment, a weight sensor may be used in a display area to signal astocking level of a display shelf. In another embodiment, a weightsensor may be used in a display area to indicate an appropriate time forrestocking the products displayed, or to calculate how many items can bestored on a fully stocked shelf. For example, in the instances wheresensors are used for monitoring the stocking level of shelves, the usermay determine an acceptable amount of goods on a shelf to be considereda fully stocked shelf. At the end of the day, after customers have left,the user may push a button to “show all un-stocked shelves” and thelighting control system in response illuminates all of the shelves inred (or any color) alerting the user that the illuminated shelves needto be restocked for the next day. Many of these features may also bedetermined through the already existing product databases in the store,but the integration of the lighting control system to processinformation from these databases and display it, may be useful. Forexample, a shelf may light red or change color for a really high sellingitem or to alert a user of an unusually high selling day for anotherwise slow moving item.

In another group of applications, the lighting control system mayinclude configuration settings for a dynamic lighting display of specialeffects, such as water effect, the ocean effect, sea breeze, fireeffects, etc. For example, a system could be programmed to provide amoving water effect by subtly shifting colors from blues, greens andwhites. A similar effect could also be achieved for grilled productswhereas the lighting system dynamically changes to portray a fire aroundthe product being displayed in order to heighten the user's senses. Thismay be beneficial in applications such as frozen food sections which arevery sterile and bland so the lighting system could be used as way todraw people to a particular product. Another advantage of the system isthe flexibility due to configurability of the system. If one month thedisplay is for brick oven pizza and the user wants the flame effect, thelighting control system may be set to this particular mode, while itcould be back to normal operation with no cost to the user just after avery simple settings adjustment.

In another group of applications, the systems and methods of the presentsolution may be used for a range of energy saving applications. In oneembodiment, the system allows integration of sensors to the controlsystem for energy saving purposes by dimming the lights or turning themoff during low traffic hours. For example, if a motion sensor wasmounted in a certain area of the store or integrated into the displaycase, it may be networked to one or more control systems in order tocontrol the lights based on activity. For example, as long as there ismotion in front of a display the lights stay on at full brightness.After 30 minutes but less than 2 hours, the lights dim to 50%. Ifsensors sense motion, during this time, the lights go back to 100% andrestart the timer. If after 2 hours the sensors sense no motion, thelights may dim to 10% or shut off completely. Using embodiments such asdescribed in these examples, a lighting control system may be configuredto save on the store's energy cost.

1. A method for improving marketability of a product by controlling acharacteristic of light emanating from a light source to an area of adisplay unit for presenting the product, the method comprising the stepsof: (a) providing a lighting control system to control a light sourcethat emanates light toward an area of a display unit for presenting oneor more products, the one or more products comprising a light reactiveportion reactive to one or more predetermined characteristics of light;(b) establishing, via the lighting control system, one or morecharacteristics of light to emanate from the light source to correspondto the one or more predetermined characteristics of the light reactiveportion of the one or more products; and (c) requesting, via thelighting control system, the light source to emanate light having theestablished one or more characteristics, the light reactive portion ofthe one or more products reacting to the emanating light.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the light reactive portion of the one or moreproducts comprises one of an interior or exterior surface of packaginghaving a coating responsive to a predetermined wavelength characteristicof a light source.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein step (b) comprisesestablishing, via the lighting control system, the one or morecharacteristics of the light to emanate from the light source tocorrespond to the predetermined wavelength characteristic.
 4. The methodof claim 1, wherein the light reactive portion of the one or moreproducts comprises a color pigment.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinstep (b) comprises establishing, via the lighting control system, theone or more characteristics of the light to emanate from the lightsource to change an appearance of the color pigment to one of adifferent color or having a different intensity of color.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the light reactive portion of the one or moreproducts comprises a dye that is not visible when exposed to one or morewavelengths of light.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (b)comprises establishing, via the lighting control system, the one or morecharacteristics of the light to emanate from the light source tocorrespond to a wavelength for which to activate the dye as visible. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the light reactive portion of the one ormore products comprise a message that is visible upon receiving lighthaving a predetermined wavelength.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinstep (b) comprises establishing, via the lighting control system, theone or more characteristics of the light to emanate from the lightsource to correspond to the predetermined wavelength to make the messagevisible.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling, viathe lighting control system, one of a color or an intensity of lightemanating from the light source.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein step(b) comprises setting, via the lighting control system, a wavelengthcharacteristic of the light to emanate from the light source to comprisea wavelength in one wavelength bin of a range of wavelength binscorresponding to the one or more predetermined characteristics of thelight reactive portion.
 12. A method for improving marketability ofproducts by controlling characteristics of light from light sourcesemanating to areas of the display unit for presenting the products, themethod comprising the steps of: (a) providing a lighting control systemto control one or more light sources to emanate light toward areas of adisplay unit for presenting one or more products, a first light sourceemanating light toward a first area of the display unit for presenting afirst product, (b) detecting, by a first detector, presence of at leastone unit of the first product in the first area of the display unit; (c)establishing, via a lighting control system, one or more characteristicsof light to emanate from the first light source to correspond to one ormore predetermined characteristics of light identified for the firstproduct; and (d) requesting, via the lighting control system responsiveto the detection, the first light source to emanate light having theestablished one or more characteristics.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein a second light source emanates light toward a second area of thedisplay unit for presenting a second product.
 14. The method of claim13, comprising detecting, by one of the first detector or a seconddetector, presence of at least one unit of the second product in thesecond area of the display unit.
 15. The method of claim 14, comprisingestablishing, via the lighting control system, one or morecharacteristics of light to emanate from the second light source tocorrespond to one or more predetermined characteristics of lightidentified for the second product, and requesting the second lightsource to emanate light having the established one or morecharacteristics.
 16. The method of claim 13, comprising detecting, bythe first detector, a movement of one or more units of the first productin the first area, and changing, by the lighting control system, one ormore characteristics of light emanating from the first light sourceresponsive to the detection of movement.
 17. The method of claim 13,wherein step (b) comprising detecting, by the first detector, an absenceof one or more units of the first product in the first area, andestablishing, by the lighting control system, one or morecharacteristics of the light emanating from the first light sourceresponsive to the detection.
 18. The method of claim 1, comprisingestablishing, via the lighting control system, a first wavelength oflight emanating from the first light source and a second wavelength oflight emanating from the second light source.
 19. The method of claim 1,comprising detecting, by the first detector, presence of a secondproduct in the first area of the display unit, and responsive to thedetection, establishing, by the lighting control system, one or morecharacteristics of the light emanating from the first light source tocorrespond to one or more predetermined characteristics of lightidentified for the second product.
 20. The method of claim 1, comprisingconfiguring the lighting controlling system to have a first set of oneor more characteristics of light identified for the first product toemanate from the first light source and a second set of one or morecharacteristics of light identified for the second product to emanatefrom the second light source.
 21. A method for improving marketabilityof products by controlling characteristics of light from light sourcesemanating to areas of the display unit for presenting the products basedon information about ambient environment of the products, the methodcomprising the steps of: (a) providing a lighting control system tocontrol one or more light sources to emanate light toward areas of adisplay unit for presenting one or more products, (b) detecting, by afirst detector, information about ambient environment of the one or moreproducts; (c) establishing, via a lighting control system, one or morecharacteristics of light to emanate from a light source of the one ormore light sources to correspond to one or more predeterminedcharacteristics of light based on the detected information about theambient environment; and (d) requesting, via the lighting control systemresponsive to the detection, the light source to emanate light havingthe established one or more characteristics.